


A Shield Maiden's Realization

by suckedintoanotherfandom



Series: A Shield Maiden Moves to Kirkwall [2]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Clueless(?) mage, F/M, OMG what will Safaera do?, One on One healing, Romantically inept warrior, realized feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-17 12:24:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21054356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suckedintoanotherfandom/pseuds/suckedintoanotherfandom
Summary: Safaera realizes her feelings for Anders, and oh buddy, is she not prepared.





	A Shield Maiden's Realization

Safaera and her group stood outside the Guardsmen Pretenders’ hideout; Duke pawed at the ground beside her impatiently. She gave a quick nod then shoved open the door allowing Fenris and Duke to charge in with Safaera, Bethany, and Varric following shortly after. Safaera then joined Fenris and Duke at the front line. For a few minutes they overwhelmed the gang, but as time went on they had lost the element of surprise when another wave of pretenders rushed around them. As a small band of men went directly for Bethany and Varric, passing Fenris and Safaera, she knew she had to go help.

“Duke, help Fenris!”

Safaera stunned her opponent, giving her an opening to aid the others. She charged towards her sister and Varric and began to reciprocate against their assailants. Every time they hit her, Safaera retaliated twice as strong. Safaera kept going, enemies falling one at a time until she was face-to-face with the leader. He was a lot stronger than the rest of his group but hadn’t been unscathed. She quit fighting when he fell, defeated.

“Drinks and a game of Wicked Grace at the Hanged Man?” Varric offered as they finished cleaning up from the battle, and began their walk into Lowtown.

"You're on. What about you, Fenris?" Safaera looked back to Fenris, who walked behind them.

He pondered the offer. "Perhaps a few rounds would suffice."

During their game of Wicked Grace, Safaera noticed the dull throb coming from her side. She found that moving her torso made it hurt more, but rather than being fussed over, Safaera kept quiet.

"You doing okay, Fae?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Varric. Why do you ask?"

"You've been scowling every time you move."

"Oh, that," she tried to be nonchalant, "I probably took one too many hits to my side tonight."

"You should let Blondie patch you up."

"It's late, Varric. Maker knows he needs the sleep. I'll just use some elfroot."

"Fae, don't be stubborn," Bethany added. "We are going into the Deep Roads tomorrow."

She knew they were right. Safaera didn't know why she was being so stubborn about going to see Anders, but her heart would quicken every time, at the mention of his name or when he drew near.

"All right, if you insist, I'll go now. Varric, will you make sure Bethany gets home safe?"

Varric gave his word, and Safaera murmured a goodbye.

The walk to Darktown, thankfully, was quiet. _Why are there so many sets of stairs in Darktown?_ Safaera wondered as she leaned against one of the walls. Duke nudged the back of her leg to encourage her and Safaera smiled down at him.

“Hey boy, can you go bring Anders over here?” Duke gave her a questioning look in return. “I’ll be right behind you, I promise.” He gave a ruff in return then padded off towards the clinic.

She reached the clinic within a few minutes but stayed by the stairs. Duke whined at Anders and would try to grab his coat in the attempt to lead him, and Anders would deflect as best he could, telling Duke ‘no’ the whole time. The whole scene made her laugh for a bit before hissing in pain.

“Ow, that’s starting to hurt more.” Safaera walked up to them. Duke sat between her and Anders in pride at a job well done.

“Hawke, what brings you here?”

“I thought I could trouble you before I called it a day. But you seem to be retiring for the night, so I’ll leave.”

Duke jumped onto Safaera, causing her to wince in pain.

“You’re hurt.” Anders stepped towards her after she pushed the mabari down.

“I don’t want to trouble you.” Safaera awkwardly muttered.

“It’ll be more trouble if it gets worse. Come on.” Anders had ushered her in and finished dousing the last lamp before following.

“Where does it hurt?”

“My right side.” She replied as she began taking off the upper half of her armor.

“Do you want some help?”

“No, thank you, but I’ve got it.” She took off her shirt, leaving her breastband, and set it on the table beside her.

Safaera could have sworn Anders was staring, but only saw him focused on the bruise forming on her side.

“How did this happen?” Anders had walked closer to her and began working.

"We raided a gang hideout, and I guess I got hit harder than I thought.” She jumped back when she felt his cold fingers brush against her skin.

“Sorry,” Anders let out a soft chuckle. “The cold will help the swelling.”

“Well, thank you for the warning.”

Safaera silently watched as Anders worked on healing. Of all the times they had worked together, this was the closest he had ever been, and it made her heart race. When she first met him Safaera thought he was beautiful. His sharply defined features were framed by the blond strands of hair that fell in front of his face is what drew her attention. What kept her attention was his passion for justice for mages, the intelligence behind his stare, the care he showed when tending to the group’s, or a refugee’s, injuries, and she respected the fact that he was a Grey Warden. The talks they had on the Wounded Coast or through the streets of Kirkwall built a fast friendship.

Anders had to stop to regain his mana, allowing her to inspect the injury. The bruising had gone down significantly, and it wasn’t as painful to move. A few minutes passed as they sat in comfortable silence together. Safaera glanced at Anders and noticed more hair had fallen out of his ponytail. Without thinking she reached one hand towards him; She stopped when she realized what she was doing, panicked, then ran her offending hand through her hair while pretending to clear her throat.

“I have an extra lyrium potion if you would like to use it.” She prayed to the Maker that Anders didn’t notice what she had almost done and that her face wasn’t as hot as it felt.

_Why did I try to do that? I nearly crossed the line, I’ve gotten to be too familiar with him!_ Safaera’s thoughts swirled in her brain as tried to act normal.

“I’m okay, thanks though. We are almost done anyway.” Anders stood up and resumed his work and her heart sank.

Safaera was confused by the reaction her heart made. _Why have I been acting so weird lately?_ As Anders worked, she thought about their interactions. Like the final puzzle piece snapping into place, she figured out why she was being different. _Oh Maker, I think I love Anders. What do I do? For the love of Andraste, what do I do?_

Then, as if hearing her thoughts, amber eyes locked onto her steely gaze. She felt her face grow warm and looked away, silently cursing herself for staring.

"So," she tried to calm her racing heart, "how bad?"

Anders had taken a step back when she had turned her head. “You had two cracked ribs. I’ve healed it, but you need to rest for a week.”

She scrunched her face in response. That was not the answer she was looking for. “Let’s say I took a jaunty stroll through the Deep Roads, would I be okay as long as I don’t overexert myself?” Safaera put her shirt on, appreciating the lack of pain when she moved. She took the opportunity to do some light stretches and test her range of movement.

Anders looked back at her. “When do you plan on leaving?” He sounded so serious that Safaera stopped her routine to face him.

“Tomorrow. Bartrand has finished up his affairs, and I’ve settled mine.”

“You’ll just go even if I told you no.”

Safaera held his gaze, refusing to look away or back down.

“Then let me come along, Hawke.”

His insistence on going surprised her; He claimed to hate the Deep Roads, but after she had helped with Karl he said he would help. Safaera thought it was only out of polite obligation, so she didn't really put any thought in having Anders join them. She looked down at the ground, seriously considering who to take; Would it be Anders or her sister? Anders is a Grey Warden, while he claimed to not be a part of the order anymore he could still sense the darkspawn. Her original plan was taking Bethany, but journeying into the Deep Roads was a dangerous gamble. She'd already lost Carver to the darkspawn, would she really risk her sister? Could she subject her mother to that remorse again? Safaera lifted her head up, her mind made up, and looked directly at Anders.

“Only if you call me Fae.”

“Let me come along, Fae.” Anders placed a hand over hers. His voice mirrored hers in conviction.

Despite the tone of his voice, the sound of her name, and his hand atop her sent Safaera's heart racing, and she knew she was blushing, again. Afraid of sounding like a fool, she simply nodded yes. Anders stepped back again, allowing her room to finish getting her gear back on. Putting her armor back on went too quick for her liking, but she couldn't think of a way to stall, so Safaera decided to head out.

"I'll see you tomorrow then." She called out as she neared the door.

"Haw - Fae, please, be safe." Safaera turned around and managed to give Anders a confident smile.

"If I get hurt, you'll be the one I'll run to."

She left into the night, with a mabari at her heels, and Anders watching her go.

**Author's Note:**

> Really, I'm just slowly throwing my OC into these dumb situations and seeing what sticks. I want to write Anders POV soon.


End file.
